


wasting our chances (for the last time)

by robarazzi



Category: Ice Age (Movies)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Unrequited Love, if you hate this blame my discord pals for telling me to post it, no happy endings here unfortunately, this started as a joke but i dont think im kidding anymore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:10:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26230114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robarazzi/pseuds/robarazzi
Summary: Sid starts to understand his feelings, but he's too late
Relationships: Diego/Manny (Ice Age)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	wasting our chances (for the last time)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a joke at like 1 am maybe like 2 months ago and reading it back it honestly hits. enjoy <3

Diego didn't know what time it was. Past midnight for sure, but other than that, he had no idea. It didn't really matter to him — it’s not like he’d been getting much sleep lately anyway. There was too much on his mind. Too many big things. Well, one big thing. One mammoth to be exact. Tall. Huge was probably a better word for it. Long, thick, brown hair. Light in some parts, darker in others. And those tusks. Diego was sure that they must have been pure white in his youth, but they’d yellowed a bit with age. It gave him a dignified look, he thought. He hadn’t been able to get Manny off of his mind. It’s not like anything would happen between them anyways. He had missed his chance.

They hadn’t known each other long, only around two month, but they had become fast friends. Diego remembered learning about Manny’s past — his wife and son, killed by hunters. The sadness and grief that Manny radiated constantly was tangible. It should have been difficult to be around him — a chore, but Diego never found it to be a burden. He wish he could have done more. He wished that they could _be_ more.

_If only I hadn’t been such a coward._

The two of them used to sit around the fire at night, after Sid had fallen asleep. They’d be silent at first, but eventually someone would give and start talking. Diego learned so much about Manny. He learned about his wife and his son, he learned about Manny’s old life, his childhood, everything really. He remembered the night he realized he was in love with Manny. The night he first thought that maybe, just maybe, thetwo of them could have something.It was the first night that Diego had really opened up. He talked about his old pack. About the things he had been forced to do. The choices he had to make. About the hundreds of times he had made the wrong ones. About the one time he had made the right one. About how Manny and Sid — how they had changed his life. Saved him.

“You can’t give me all the credit Diego,” Manny said.

“I’m not,” Diego responded.

“I’m giving some credit to Sid too.”

The pair were silent for a while. The only sound was that of the fire and Sid’s snoring. Diego tried hard to avoid Manny’s eyes. He wasn’t used to being so vulnerable. Manny cleared his throat, and Diego looked up at Manny on instinct. He looked into his eyes.

_Oh._

It was the first time that Diego had really thought about anyone in that way. Let alone a guy, and let alone a mammoth. Manny looked back at him. They held eye contact for longer than usual.

“I uh, I should probably get to sleep,” Diego said.

“Yeah, me too,” Manny responded.

Diego could have sworn he’d heard Manny’s voice shake.

_Maybe he felt the same way too._

The two of them laid down on opposite sides of the fire. Backs to each other. Diego’s eyes were still wide open, staring into the woods.

_“_ Goodnight Diego,” Manny said gruffly.

“Night Manny,” Diego responded.

He didn't get any sleep that night.

* * *

It went on like that for another month. Maybe month and a half. The two of them sharing moments that, to Diego, felt like something more than friendship. Sid had noticed too. He hadn’t come out and said anything, but Diego knew that he noticed — Sid could be a little naive, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew that he’d never say anything to him, they didn’t talk about that sort of thing together, but he was sure that he must’ve said something to Manny.

With every late night conversation, every lingering glance, every time their eyes met for more than a few seconds, every ‘accidental’ brush of their bodies, Diego wanted Manny more and more. He wanted a life with him, he wanted to be more than friends, he wanted to feel Manny’s trunk around his shoulders not just in times of danger. He thought that maybe, just maybe, he could have a chance with him.

Until they met Ellie and her brothers.

Until Sid convinced the siblings to join them on their journey.

Until he had to watch Manny fall in love with Ellie to ‘save their species’

Until he realized he has missed his chance.

Until he knew it was too late.

So now it was well past midnight. He was awake, but he didn’t want to be. He was here, with his herd, but he didn’t want to be. He didn’t know where he wanted to be. He just knew that he couldn’t be here. He couldn’t listen to Ellie and Manny’s breathing sync up night after night. He couldn’t see how the two of them go along so well — how they understood each other and knew each other inside and out. He couldn’t stop thinking about how it should have — and could have — been them. If he hand’t been such a coward. At the same time, he didn’t know where else to go, and he knew that even if he did know, he wouldn’t leave anyway.

Manny had saved him, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> please leave me comments and kudos im so desperate and i love you


End file.
